Environment in the Global Arena

Series Preface ix

Preface xiii

1. Environment as a Global Issue - Kenneth A. Dahlberg 1

What Is the Environment? 1

Key Concepts 2

Cultural and Historical Roots 6

Problems of Evaluation and Forecasting 18

Global Environmental Threats and Limits 25

Responses to Global Environmental Threats 39

2. Environmental Actors - Anne Thompson Feraru 43

Types of Environmental Actors 44

Environmental Actors and the Stockholm Conference 54

The New Environmental Actor: The UN Environmental Program 57

UN Conference on Global Issues 60

3. Environmental Values - Marvin S. Soroos 68

Basic Environmental Values 70

Peace and the Environment 78

Economic Development and the Environment 81

Summary 85

4. Environmental Policies - Marvin S. Soroos 86

The Tragedy of the Commons 86

Case Study 1: Living Resources of the Ocean 93

Case Study 2: The Extinction of Terrestrial Species 98

Case Study 3: Oil Pollution in the Oceans 103

Case Study 4: Transboundary Acid Rain 109

Summary and Conclusions 113

5. The Futures of the Environment - Marvin s. Soroos 116

Envisioning the Future 116

Global Environmental Forecasts 120

Global Environmental Designs 126

Summary and Conclusions 138

6. The Environmental Issues Revisited - James E. Harf and B. Thomas Trout 141

Why Is It Happening? 141

The Last Decade 144

UNEP Today 161

Conclusion 163

Notes 165

Bibliography 172

Index 183

Contributors 187